Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has described Danny Ings's maiden Champions League appearance as "a wonderful story" following the striker's injury struggles.
Ings was brought on for the final stages of the Reds' emphatic 5-0 win over Porto last Wednesday in the first leg of the last-16 tie.
The 25-year-old had previously featured just five times for Liverpool in all competitions this term due to another layoff, but Klopp insists that the Englishman's run-out against Porto was merited.
"It was fantastic and he deserves it, really," he told the club's official website. "Danny is in a fantastic shape. It always takes time.
"When I came in, it was such a long time [before I could work with him] because in the first session he got injured. Unbelievable. Now, after two-and-a-half years, he can play in the Champions League. It's a wonderful story, it's really deserved."
Ings, yet to start a game in 2016-17, has three goals to his name in three injury-plagued campaigns at Anfield.
Daniel Lewis
